“You’re the Swisher’s brother? Come here and give me a big hug,” Mitchell recalled Cousy saying. “He’s telling me how great the Swisher is, as if I didn’t know.”

Mitchell told that story on Saturday afternoon at Colby College. It was just one of the stories told while the Colby community celebrated what everybody who has ever met John “Swisher” Mitchell knows. How great he is.

Dozens of alumni, friends, and family came out to honor Swisher. The occasion was his recent 90th birthday, but it also was to announce the creation of the John “Swisher” Mitchell Assistant Coach for Men’s Basketball at Colby, the first endowed assistant coaching position in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. In five weeks, close to $1 million was raised for the endowment.